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Interactive Whiteboards

By: Charlene Blohm

7/1/2008

Teachers are using interactive whiteboards to create opportunities for their students to become fully engaged in their daily lessons. Here's a primer to help you leverage IWBs in your solutions selling.

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1. What are they?

   Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) are large, touch-sensitive display devices that, when connected to a computer, allow users to interact with any application simply by touching the display screen.

2. How do IWBs work?

   When you touch the interactive screen, your finger becomes the mouse, enabling you to interact with icons, menus, and other interface elements on the screen. With some software applications, you can write on the screen and initiate program functions with a special pen or stylus.

3. How are schools using them?

   Whiteboards are used mostly for classroom instruction. They are used for group lessons, student-led presentations, streaming video projection, and brainstorming sessions that encourage critical thinking. In some cases schools use them for instant assessments using clicker devices A popular application is providing the means for a teacher to save her daily notes. The notes can then be uploaded to a website for students to review, for parents to follow what their children learned that day, and for the teacher to reference when develop-ing future lesson plans. (For more information on where IWBs are going in education, see Trend Spotting)

4. What is a school’s biggest concern, and how do I address it?

   School leaders want to know that everything in the classroom works together–hardware devices, software applications, assessment tools, and standards-aligned content. Professional development is key to ensuring teachers make use of the full potential of available technology by learning how to use it effectively.

5. What is a district’s biggest concern?

   Interactive whiteboards represent a sizable investment, so district leaders want to ensure they derive maximum return and are looking for applications that exploit the full capabilities of IWBs. Be prepared to address the level of interactivity your application provides, how notes are stored, whether lessons can be recorded in full or part, how to tag examples for use in future lessons, the ability to control the pace of interactive lessons, how to incorporate assessments, and whether your product has been implemented in other whiteboard-ready classrooms.

6. How are IWBs part of my sales solution today?

   Given the goal of maximizing return on the whiteboard investment, products that include interactive components that can be used in conjunction with whiteboards may have a competitive advantage in the evaluation process.

7. What should I expect in the future?

   Districts that have installed interactive whiteboards in a variety of classroom settings are also starting to use whiteboards for administrator work sessions and school board meetings.

Interactive whiteboards represent a sizeable investment, so districts are looking for applications that exploit their full capabilities.

Charlene Blohm is president of C. Blohm & Associates, Inc., a public relations firm serving the education industry.